A little while ago Games vs Play reviewed Starship Deadfall, the debut gamebook by author Dean Moodie. Set within the twisting corridors of the titular spacecraft and featuring multiple missions and character classes, Starship Deadfall is a must-read for gamebook fans and a bright star in the gamebook renaissance. Recently we caught up Dean to find out more about his inspiration behind the book and his plans for more gamebooks in the future.

Games vs Play: Congratulations Dean on Starship Deadfall, the first volume in your upcoming Bionic Agent series. It’s great to see new gamebooks being written, especially when they’re as awesome as this one! We thoroughly enjoyed Starship Deadfall here at Games vs Play. Can you tell us a bit about the book?

Dean Moodie: Sure. It is a sci-fi adventure gamebook in which the reader plays as an agent of one of several rivalling factions or groups. These factions have different characteristics and by aligning with one of them you will have missions to complete which will alter the course of events, shaping the story across the planned series of Bionic Agent books. The character you choose you continue throughout the series, gaining new weapons, abilities, bionic parts and picking up clues along the way.

GvP:Starship Deadfall features multiple characters and adventures, which gives it huge replayability value. It also has 1300 numbered sections, making it truly epic in scope. How did you go about planning and putting together all the different storylines?

Dean: It was a mammoth task with many pages of notes keeping track of the 1300 references. The original book was 2000 references, though I was told to cut it back. A lot of lateral thinking and attention to detail is required and breaking the project into sections also helps.

GvP: So what was your inspiration to write Starship Deadfall?

Dean: I’ve wanted to write gamebooks since I was young, but I wanted it to be epic and what I would want to read if I were reading it for story, playability and adventure. I love the sci-fi genre as well so it was a recipe to get writing.

GvP: What are some of your favourite gamebooks?

Dean: The Fighting Fantasyseries of gamebooks are my favourite and I still have many of them. In particular I liked the Sorcery! series which took the reader on a long journey through multiple books. There are heaps of Fighting Fantasy books I enjoyed, so it’s difficult to single them out, but a few that spring to mind are Vault of the Vampire, Deathtrap Dungeonand City of Thieves… and plenty more. What are some of your favourite gamebooks, by the way?

Dean: Many sci-fi and action films growing up along with various video games. I also simply wanted to write a gamebook of epic proportions with huge replay ability.

GvP: What do you think is different or unique about the gamebook format?

Dean: I would say the gamebook format allows the reader to fully immerse themselves into the story. When choices determine what happens next or even life and death, the reader is the main character and there is a sense of exploration, participation and suspense as to what may unfold.

Dean: I’d like to see more gamebooks of wider variety and with unusual or unique features.

GvP: And finally, Starship Deadfall is book 1 in the Bionic Agent series. What have you got planned for the rest of the series?

Dean: I have ideas sketched out for future books in the series at this point, expanding the story which is only getting started in Starship Deadfall. Completing different missions and making certain choices will change large scale events in the series on top of the main missions and side tasks.

You can buy your own copy of Starship Deadfall from the Bionic Agent website. Games vs Play wishes to thank Dean Moodie for the review copy of the book.

To find out more about the latest reviews, stories and other cool things in the world of games, like Games vs Play on Facebook. And remember – if you’re game, we’ll play!

]]>http://gamesvsplay.com/5-minutes-with-dean-moodie-author-of-starship-deadfall/feed/0Sneak Preview: The Brigade, with lead designer Alex Wynnterhttp://gamesvsplay.com/sneak-preview-the-brigade-with-lead-designer-alex-wynnter/
http://gamesvsplay.com/sneak-preview-the-brigade-with-lead-designer-alex-wynnter/#commentsWed, 10 May 2017 04:50:18 +0000http://gamesvsplay.com/?p=1710Games vs Play: I’m very happy to be talking with Alex Wynnter tonight (pictured right), who is not only the President of Tabletop Game Designers Australia but is also the designer of a new game that’s soon to come out on Kickstarter, The Brigade. Welcome Alex, and congratulations on getting the game to the Kickstarter phase.

Alex Wynnter: Hello! It’s been a struggle to get it to Kickstarter, but you know, you’ve got to do these things at some point!

GvP: So, I was lucky enough to do a playtest of The Brigade a few weeks ago, and I really enjoyed it [the prototype we played is pictured below]. I think it’s a great game – it’s got a nice mix of light strategy with a lot of tactical manoeuvring, plus some randomising mechanics that ramp up the urgency of the game for all the players. Could you tell us a bit more about The Brigade and what players might expect from it?

Alex: Yeah, sure. The short story I usually tell playtesters is that there’s a town called Tinderbox, and the people living there wanted to increase their revenue through tourism. So they thought it was a great idea to build a pyromancy university in the middle of the town. It worked well for a few years, they earned a bit of money from tourism – this information is coming directly from the tourism office, which is one of the buildings in The Brigade – but at one point something’s gone terribly wrong. The uni has “mysteriously” caught fire. There were always fires in the town of Tinderbox, but this one is “mysterious”, and the Fire Chief has also “mysteriously” disappeared. Now the four Fire Wardens that control one quarter of the town each, they’re all vying to become the new Fire Chief. So, during the game, everything you can do is something that a Fire Warden would do. You can move over there, you can put out a fire, you might need to get some more water, you can move your water wagon or equivalent of a fire engine, you can hire a crew, and you can get better at stuff, by training yourself or upgrading your instruments. During the game you have to make choices of what you’re doing with your actions, then follow through with them and hope that you become the Fire Chief at the end of the game.

GvP: Yeah, it’s very good if you like lateral thinking. There are also lots of degrees of freedom, which I think is great. You can choose to do a lot of different actions in each round. I enjoyed that part of the design too.

Alex: Definitely. Freedom is one of the things I like within a game. I think choice is one of the most valuable things we do as humans, and I think it’s also one of the most valuable things you can do during a game. We’ve nutted it down to about 8 actions that you can choose to do, but we started with about 16, so we thought, “Nah, scrap that one, that [action’s] too powerful or this one’s not good enough, or not getting used.” So we just narrowed it down to the best possible actions, and within those 8 different actions you have a lot of freedom of what you can do in the game.

GvP: So where did the idea for The Brigade come from? Because you’ve got quite a good backstory.

Alex: It is a good backstory, and I can’t take any credit for it! The magnificent theme and the basic concept we started working on was actually made up by Ben Hoban, who is my associate at Red Genie Games. He came up with all that stuff, and then we both developed it together. I’ve always liked Terry Pratchett. He was a fantastic writer, and he sort of inspired a lot of the things that are going on in the game. We also hired a copywriter, and he also loves Terry Pratchett. After seeing the art and the gameplay he could see it’s a bit comedic, so he drew some inspiration from that and has created more of the backstory. We only had a basic, generic-amusing backstory at the start, but he’s just taken that and brought it up another 5 levels. One of the things we’re doing at the moment is releasing The Tinderbox Times, a newspaper in The Brigade. We’ve released two editions so far of The Tinderbox Times, and it’s telling the backstory in the form of a newspaper. It’s got all these other little things in there too, like ads for some of the property in town. Part of the game is that it’s a random set-up. You take all the town tiles and you place them in a random arrangement. So one of my favourite things recently in the newspaper was this story, “Royal Cartographer Quits!” The story basically says the Royal Cartographer came to Tinderbox to map the town, but was growing increasingly frustrated because the building that was there one week is now on the other side of town! [both laugh]

GvP: That’s great. Where can we read that?

Alex: They’ve been posted on the Red Genie Facebook page, but it’s also part of the mailing list, so if you join up to the mailing list you’ll get sent The Tinderbox Times episodes.

GvP: I love the idea of there being a universe outside the game that supports it.

Alex: Yeah, well one of the stretch goals I would like to achieve is to grab all the additional storyline stuff and either put them in a digital e-book first of all, and then a printed book that we can just add into the game.

GvP: You mentioned that Terry Pratchett is a big influence on the style and look of the game, and the art too has that comedic-fantasy look to it. At the prototype, the art looks fantastic.

Alex: The artist we have is phenomenal. I just commissioned the three remaining Fire Wardens. We’ve got one Fire Warden already done, and we needed the other three to set up the Kickstarter page. I gave our artist a basic set of information, a little bit of backstory for each Warden, and I set the colour palettes for each one, because they adhere to the different building types in the game. I sent him these ideas and he’s given me back these three sketches, and they’re just fantastic. He’s just got such an imagination. The dwarf Fire Warden, for instance, has got a big hammer, which you know fits into your big thematic, fantasy-type game. He’s a dwarf, he’s rich because he’s a merchant, he’s got this shiny belt and he’s got this hammer. But the hammer has a bell on it, like big alarm bells, so if there was a fire emergency he’d smash his hammer on the ground and the bells would ring out and everyone would hear. Our artist came up with this idea and it was just brilliant. I can’t wait to see the final art on these Fire Wardens.

GvP: Who’s the artist again?

Alex: We call him Nunoh, and he’s from Spain. We’ve just posted a profile of him on brigadegame.com. It has all his information on it and what his influences are.

GvP: So, if you were to talk with an aspiring games designer, what’s the best advice you would give them having gotten to this point with The Brigade?

Alex: The best advice you can give to any games designer is just get it out on pen and paper. And play it with someone, play it with anyone. You can play it with your family first, that’s fine, they’ll give you some positive feedback. But then play it with games designers, because they’re the ones who are going to find problems with it. I think another top tip would be, don’t waste time making it look pretty for your first prototypes. First of all, you’ll waste a ton of time designing it – and this is coming from a graphic designer who has to have everything pretty – but it can also take away the focus from the gameplay. People will look at the art and, if something deserves bad feedback, they won’t give you bad feedback because they’re distracted by the quality of the art or how pretty it looks. They’ll be like, “Look, ah, you could change this thing, but you’ve already designed it, so I’m just creating extra work for you.” Don’t make it pretty, make it rough, make it black and white with just squares and circles. You don’t need placeholder artwork, just make something up. As long as it’s understandable and playable, just play it. You’ll get the best feedback, you’ll get quick feedback, and you’ll be able to adjust things easily when you come to modifying how your game plays. And I’ve got one more top tip – if you need things in different colours, you can still print in black and white but just change the colour of the paper.

GvP: That’s an awesome tip!

Alex: It’s saved me a ton of money.

GvP: I think we’re just about wrapped up, but what’s the next stage now? How soon will the Kickstarter be happening?

Alex: I’m hoping in June, but if it comes to it we might push it back another month. It’s better getting a killer Kickstarter than a mediocre one. We’re still just trying to build our following. We’ve got a ton of events coming up, there’s about 3 or 4 different gaming events in June that I’m going to, including ShepparCon. Just get people playing it, enjoying it, and then hopefully liking the Facebook page, for the art, the game, for us. Then hopefully pledging on the Kickstarter.

GvP: Can I ask if there are any other games on the horizon?

Alex: Personally, I’ve got a game that I’m working on with a publisher that will hopefully be released halfway through next year [2018]. This is a really nice drafting game about scenery. I’m working on an Aztec temple game with another friend, Dale Maccanti. It’s sort of like a race to get your treasure and get out of the temple and not fall into the many traps that it has. It’s got a moveable board, which is really cool, that’s probably our hook. That’s pretty much what I’m working on. With Red Genie there is another game in the works, but that’s top secret at the moment.

GvP: That’s cool, we won’t go there yet! Alright, I’ve got one last question: do we ever find out where the Fire Chief actually disappeared to?

Alex: Ah, see, now that’s a really good question. I feel like that’s something you need to subscribe to us to find out! [both laugh]

Games vs Play would like to thank Red Genie Games and Alex Wynnter for permission to use images from The Brigade appearing in this post. Stay tuned for news of the Kickstarter, coming soon!

To find out more about the latest reviews, stories and other cool things in the world of games, like Games vs Play on Facebook. And remember – if you’re game, we’ll play!

]]>http://gamesvsplay.com/sneak-preview-the-brigade-with-lead-designer-alex-wynnter/feed/0Scenario Playtest: A Few Minutes with Mark Platt, round 1 winner of the Cult of Chaos Convention Scenario Competitionhttp://gamesvsplay.com/scenario-playtest-a-few-minutes-with-mark-platt-round-1-winner-of-the-cult-of-chaos-convention-scenario-competition/
http://gamesvsplay.com/scenario-playtest-a-few-minutes-with-mark-platt-round-1-winner-of-the-cult-of-chaos-convention-scenario-competition/#commentsWed, 26 Apr 2017 04:05:18 +0000http://gamesvsplay.com/?p=1671Chaosium’s Cult of Chaos Convention Scenario Competition is an opportunity for Keepers and players of Call of Cthulhu to try their hand at writing a scenario for the famed Lovecraftian RPG. Leigh and Martin from Games vs Play recently playtested Mark Platt’s CofC scenario set in Communist-era East Germany, one of the entries to make it through the first round of the competition. Afterwards we asked Mark a few questions about how to write a CofC scenario, where he got the idea for his adventure from, and also his personal feelings about a certain type of fungi from Yuggoth.

Mark: I think Leigh might have posted about it on the Call of Cthulhu Melbourne Facebook group. And I thought, “Do I want to apply? Do I want to get into this competition? Yeah, sure, why not? I’ll give being a writer a go. What’s the worst that could happen?” I didn’t expect to get in at all, I thought there’d be a lot more experienced Keepers than I am who’ve been writing their scenarios since, like, the ‘80s, who would all get in. But no, for some reason they really liked my pitch, so they chose mine to be one of the people to go into the next round.

GvP: So this first round of the competition, what does that entail?

Mark: Basically I will write a full-length scenario, including the handouts and player sheets, all the stats, and submit it to the guys at Chaosium. They will then judge it, see whether they like it or not.

GvP: And then possibly the next round.

Mark: Yeah, possibly.

GvP: Great, good luck with it. Without giving out any spoilers, what’s your scenario about?

Mark: Basically you are policemen in 1970s East Germany [flag shown right], and you have to investigate some mysterious goings on, including some kidnappings of people. Without spoilers, that’s pretty much it. [laughs]

GvP: It’s a very atmospheric adventure. The setting comes across really well, and it’s a lot different to many of the more standard Call of Cthulhu settings, which are usually 1920s or modern day. Where did the idea come from then, for this particular scenario?

Mark: I watched a movie, it was called Goodbye Lenin. It was about a teenager in the late ‘80s in East Germany, about the time of the collapse of the Berlin Wall [pictured left as it looked in 1986], and his mum goes into a coma as a result of a stroke. While she’s in the coma the Berlin Wall falls, the Soviet Union begins to collapse, and when she comes out of the coma a doctor tells her son, “Hey look, your mum could have another stroke any moment if there’s any sort of shock. If anything bad happens don’t tell her, try to keep her as stable as possible.” She doesn’t know about the collapse of the country, and she’s quite a fervent Communist, and so he thinks, “My god, if I tell her she’ll have another stroke.” So he tries to maintain the illusion of the country still being around, like getting all the old products from the bin and putting them in the cupboard … I really like that movie, and I was really interested in East Germany, I watched some documentaries, and that kind of inspired me with the setting.

GvP: When you’re writing a scenario, what are some of the important things for you to observe?

Mark: An important thing for me probably would be to provide the players with an experience where they are out of their comfort zone, I would say. Not only in the setting, but in a dangerous situation. My scenario has a bit of a tense atmosphere, you’re uncomfortable, you’re looking over your shoulder. That type of thing.

GvP: We’ve been looking over the scenario itself [after playtesting it] – what has been the most challenging thing writing specifically a Call of Cthulhu scenario?

Mark: Probably the investigation aspect of it. You have to be able to lay the clues down right, be sure that the players are able to get the clues, make sure they follow them to their conclusion and make sure that the NPCs – the enemies of the players – aren’t just sitting around in the end dungeon, to use D&D terminology, waiting for the players to come along and say, “Aha! So you have found me – now we shall fight!” You have to have things going on that might throw the players off, that type of stuff.

GvP: What fascinates you about Call of Cthulhu in general that pushed you along to the writing side of things?

Mark: I love the idea of this alternate world where all these Elder Gods exist. And so I wonder, what happens in a post-1930s world? Because Lovecraft’s stuff was all ‘20s and ‘30s. With the advancement of time, what happened in World War II with the Mythos? What can I write about set on the Eastern Front of Russia? How was the Mythos involved in that? What was Cthulhu doing when they were nuking the Pacific during the 1950s thermonuclear tests? Stuff like that. I wanted to write about things that aren’t touched upon by all the regular scenarios and books involved with Lovecraft.

GvP: So what’s been the hardest thing you encountered while developing the story?

Mark: Well, I received this “How to write a Call of Cthulhu Scenario” document from Chaosium. It was basically guidelines on how to outline your scenario, make sure it’s formatted right etc. Taking my completely unformatted notes which I’d just been jotting down and trying to configure them into this format of how a scenario should read was probably the toughest thing.

GvP: If you were to give advice to other writers or Keepers who wanted to develop their own adventures, what would be the most important thing you would tell them?

Mark: I would say try to provide an experience where it’s something that old players and new players will enjoy playing. So, if it’s just a romp through the Arkham countryside encountering classic enemies like shoggoths and that type of thing, I don’t think that your experienced, veteran Call of Cthulhu player will be that interested. But if you’re in somewhere a little more exotic, whether it’s East Germany or whether you’re in Russia or somewhere like that, I think that provides a great benefit to your scenario. I’m a big fan of exotic settings, if you haven’t been able to tell! [laughs] I like exotic settings a lot.

GvP: Ok thanks Mark, we’re nearly at the end of the interview now. I guess our final question would be, if a Mi-go approached you and offered to take your brain out of your body and put it into a canister to fly you to the Pluto kind of area? Maybe you’re with me on this one, I’m talking about Yuggoth here … would you accept?

Mark: Nah, because they could just use my brain for fuel for a machine or something! [all laugh] That’s what they do sometimes, they use human brains to power their guns or whatever. No way. I’m not signing up for that scam.

The second round winners of the Cult of Chaos Convention Scenario Competition will be announced later in 2017. For more details go to the Chaosium website. To find out more about the latest reviews, stories and other cool things in the world of games, like Games vs Play on Facebook. And remember – if you’re game, we’ll play!

]]>http://gamesvsplay.com/scenario-playtest-a-few-minutes-with-mark-platt-round-1-winner-of-the-cult-of-chaos-convention-scenario-competition/feed/0Absolute Decimation – an Exclusive Games vs Play Sneak Previewhttp://gamesvsplay.com/absolute-decimation/
http://gamesvsplay.com/absolute-decimation/#commentsWed, 19 Apr 2017 04:10:57 +0000http://gamesvsplay.com/?p=1618Word Forge Games will soon be launching the Kickstarter for Absolute Decimation, a tactical miniatures game that pits telepathically controlled super tanks against each other in a struggle that can only end in, well, absolute decimation. In this exclusive sneak preview, Games vs Play recently caught up with Chris Reynolds, the lead designer behind Absolute Decimation and longtime Warhammer fan, to find out more about this intriguing new tabletop battlegame.

Games vs Play: Thanks for talking with Games vs Play, Chris. You’re the lead designer behind the new tactical miniatures game Absolute Decimation, due to hit Kickstarter in May 2017. Can you tell us a little about what people should expect from Absolute Decimation?

Chris Reynolds: Certainly! The game set in a high-tech post-apocalyptic world where humans and AI have fought each other to a stalemate. The primary weapon that allowed humanity to survive were the Digipaths, people whose brains are structured in such a way that they can reprogram a computer instinctively, the same as you or I might ride a bike or throw a ball. They lead small squads of drones from the belly of their command vehicles.

The game itself is a skirmish tabletop miniatures wargame set in 1/100 (15mm) scale, with each player bringing about a dozen combat drones to the fight. It’s played with an innovative programming mechanic, where players select a handful of orders programs (represented by cards) for each of their Digipaths each turn. Each card has an action on it, to make a unit move, shoot, go to ground, etc. No unit can perform any action except what’s written on those cards – there’s no default moving or shooting here. It also features the ability to build new units during the game, which opens up a range of strategy options. Players can bring their whole collection and build new units that aren’t on the table. They can replace their losses or alter their strategy mid-game.

GvP: So what’s the objective in Absolute Decimation?

Chris: This is actually a bit wide open. Players have to achieve a number of victory conditions – holding more ground, destroying the most enemy units, degrading the enemy command vehicles. Normally, players have to achieve any two out of three. So if you’re holding more ground, you can conserve your forces. But if you’re forced into a corner, you can try to kill as many enemy drones as possible, or make an attack on their commander. However, choosing one of the factions actually gives you a fourth method to achieve victory, depending on the faction’s objectives… some may want to overrun the enemy, some may want to grab as many resources as possible.

Of course, players may have some more immediate aims within the game itself, like taking and fortifying the automated mines to deny them to the enemy. And (if all goes well at Kickstarter) there will be new game modes in the future that provide objectives-based victory conditions and a campaign system.

GvP: The team here at Games vs Play were intrigued by the mechanic that allowed players to build new units in the middle of the game. How do you think this will transform strategy and tactics for players?

Chris: This is one that looks simple at first, but it opens up a massive amount of possibility for the game. The first is that you can expend your forces, letting tanks die in battle and then replacing them with new ones from the Assembler. If the game is going badly for you, just focus on production for a couple of turns and you may be able to recover.

Another thing it can do is that you can actually change your force to counter the enemy’s lineup. Have you brought all Rhino tanks and the enemy is nothing but Wolves? Normally that would be an uphill battle for you, but in this game you can play a Scuttle orders card to remove one Rhino and then immediately build an Elephant, which is a hard counter for a Wolf.

But you can also take it a step further. Some of my longer-term playtesters have experimented with strategies like taking a full lineup of Wolf tanks (fast raiders) at deployment, and not expecting them to survive long. They then replace them with Rhinos, and later with Elephant artillery tanks as backup. This forces their opponents to change their strategy mid-game.

The Assembler is also a prime target. It’s vulnerable to the Wolf’s short-ranged plasma cannons, and not nearly as well protected as the Command Tank. Players have very successfully stripped their opponent of the means to produce, but fortunately the game doesn’t end quickly after that. Commanders without a production unit can steal the enemy’s units by using the Capture orders card (representing reprogramming enemy units), or even stealing the enemy Assembler itself! And of course, the same sorts of things can happen with the logistics vehicles that collect resources and return them to the Assembler during the game – destroyed or captured by the enemy. Canny players even like to use one of their logistic vehicles as a disposable spotter for artillery, amongst other things!

GvP: I know it’s still early days, but do you have any expansions planned?

Chris: Oh yes, very much so! Of course, it all depends on whether the game will perform well at Kickstarter. We know that it’s a new IP from a small company in a market full of games based on much loved settings, but there are some big plans in the pipeline. For one, we’re going to expand beyond tanks and include hovercraft, insect-like walkers and aircraft in future expansions. There will be new gameplay methods, objectives and campaigns as I’ve alluded to above. There will be new commanders, new units and new orders cards to expand your options. There will be super-heavy units, massive combat drones that take up two or three slots each. And for those who like bigger battles, there will be an all-out-war game mode that lets you take small squads of combat drones instead of individual units.

GvP: Where did the idea for Absolute Decimation come from?

Chris: I’m a writer as well as a games designer, and one of the wonderful things to play with creatively is to build a world in which you can put things like tabletop games, RPGs and novels. This game came about by degrees, but then evolved alongside a novel that I’ve started writing in the same setting. The two works have sort of fed off each other, and I’m a big believer in the fluff fitting the game.

The concept itself comes from a lot of reading that I was doing on Artificial Intelligence, the future of work and automation of jobs. That fed into the concept of AI-guided labour, which gets sabotaged by human beings and sets the world afire. The scary part about the story is that there’s plenty of real-world fear in there… we don’t yet know how to handle AI in this context. Plus, the AI aren’t deliberately malicious to humans. When they were sabotaged, all that happened was that the safety protocols were removed. So an AI that manages crops suddenly looks beyond the boundaries of the property it’s managing and decides to bulldoze the neighbouring village to put up more fruit trees, for example. Then a mining AI comes and digs them up to get at some minerals, before a construction AI fills it all in and builds apartments to plan, although no human will ever live in them.

GvP: Was there anything that caught you by surprise while making the game?

Chris: Absolutely! For one thing, until recently the game was called ‘Absolute Domination.’ This is based on how the military uses the term: they ‘dominate ground’ or ‘find a dominating feature.’ However, that word means something very different to most people, so we’ve had to change it to prevent gamers googling the game getting search pages full of porn! We probably waited a little too long to change the name … we’d already launched on social media and started building our mailing list before we came back to it. There may still be a few places where the old wording persists, so we’ve got to be careful to weed those out.

GvP: Yikes! Yes, it’s a good thing you changed the name. We’ll make sure to get the name right here on Games vs Play! Um … moving onto something less controversial, could you tell us how many people does it actually take to make a tactical miniatures game?

Chris: Quite a few! I’m both writer and games designer, but that can only really produce half a rulebook by itself. My publisher, Word Forge Games in the UK, will produce the minis, cards etc. and distribute them internationally. They are also on top of the graphic design for elements like the cards and rules. Then there’s the 3D designer, Hao Dinh, who produced all our 3D files. Then there’s the playtest team and a whole heap of artists. It’s incredible the reach that online services provide us as well – I’m in Canberra, Australia along with most of my playtesters, but the publisher is in the UK, the designer in the US, artists are from the US, UK, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, France, and there are others in places like Indonesia and Japan helping with other elements. It’s truly a creation of the internet age!

GvP: How did you get into tabletop games originally?

Chris: I have always enjoyed board games, and I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family that played them a lot. My particular favourites were big-format wargames: Axis and Allies, Risk, that sort of thing. When I went to high school I managed to completely nerd out and join up with a group of friends who were into tabletop wargaming, and that was where I truly got started.

Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 was the first, closely followed by Target Games’ Warzone. I played both through my high school years, and even dabbled in some design at that age. I created a token-based Eureka Stockade game and another with plastic bugs, both with rather simplistic rules. But it was a start, and look where that attitude has taken me!

GvP: What are some other games you like or admire, and why?

Chris: I loved the original Warzone, particularly with its alternating activation system and the freedom that choosing actions gave you. There were certainly some quirks with the game, but it was a really effective mechanic. The modern version (Warzone: Resurrection) is similarly great fun, and the added resource pool mechanic is fantastic. Making decisions about where to put those resources is a critical part of the game: do I increase the rate of fire on this model as he fires at the high-priority target, or do I use it to activate a special ability to keep my other soldiers safer? That’s where the real tactics come into the game, and you’re not just hostage to the dice rolls. I also enjoy Flames of War, Team Yankee and Star Wars: Armada. Unfortunately, designing this game and being a father to two toddlers means that I don’t really get time to play anything outside of AD lately!

GvP: What tips on game design have you learnt from the experience of working on Absolute Decimation?

Chris: This game looks almost nothing like it did at the start of my design process. Initially the orders mechanic was a simple selection of maybe five different orders, and then they were sent to each unit before the turn started. However, a lot of what I call ‘exploratory’ playtesting combined with the guidance from the fluff turned it into a more ‘programming’-based experience. Knowing what to hold on to and what to let go from your initial concept to the final product is really important. I was fortunate enough to have a great group of playtesters who gave both feedback and advice on how to improve the game all the way through, and in no small part this game is a product of their imaginations as much as my own. The other thing is to maintain an idea of what you want the game to be like as a play experience. There was a culminating moment in the initial playtesting where I stopped intently dismantling the game while I was playing and instead just enjoyed playing. Since that point, there have been more changes to the game, but at all times it has remained an enjoyable play experience.

GvP: And finally, when will the game be available?

Chris: Our aim is to bring it to Kickstarter in Q2 this year, aiming for mid-May. Of course, in any project there’s the risk that dates will change. We were hoping originally to bring it out at the end of March, but another Kickstarter for the Devil’s Run RPG (a Word Forge Games licensed product from Red Scar Publishing) was already planned during that period. We thought it best if the attention of their prior customers wasn’t being pulled in two directions at the same time.

If people are interested in seeing more information about the game (the miniatures, the backstory and the gameplay), they can sign up to our mailing list – it’s very important to include the word ‘game’ or you’ll get a very different website!). This will be our primary means of communication for people who are interested, and we will be sending out pre-campaign updates on AD‘s development. They can also head on over to our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter (@ADWargame) or email me directly.

Games vs Play would like to thank Word Forge Games and Chris Reynolds for permission to use images of the Absolute Decimation game appearing in this post. You can check out more of Hao Dinh’s fantastic graphics and artwork at his website. To find out more about the latest reviews, stories and other cool things in the world of games, like us on Facebook. And remember – if you’re game, we’ll play!

]]>http://gamesvsplay.com/absolute-decimation/feed/05 minutes with Kerrin Addis, founder of OzBunnyConhttp://gamesvsplay.com/5-minutes-with-kerrin-addis-founder-of-ozbunnycon/
http://gamesvsplay.com/5-minutes-with-kerrin-addis-founder-of-ozbunnycon/#commentsWed, 29 Mar 2017 00:12:08 +0000http://gamesvsplay.com/?p=1611It’s nearly Easter again, and in Melbourne, Australia, that means it’s time for OzBunnyCon. The origins of this annual event have long been lost in the mists of time. Ancient pagan rituals, Freemason initiation ceremonies and MK-Ultra mind control conspiracies have all been put forward, only to be discredited one by one.

So this year Games vs Play decided to get to the bottom of the mystery once and for all! To discover the truth we caught up with Kerrin Addis, the convention’s lead organiser and founder (pictured left). Kerrin told us how OzBunnyCon began, why it’s so much fun and, most importantly, how you can attend.

Games vs Play: Thanks for talking with Games vs Play, Kerrin. Maybe we could start by asking what can people when they attend the OzBunnyCon boardgame convention?

Kerrin Addis: Four days of open gaming in a family friendly environment. For some, a chance to play all the board games you have bought but haven’t been able to get to the table. For others, playing favourites, catching up with friends and making new friends. Everyone seems to have a different reason but what we all have in common is we want to play board games.

GvP: Running a convention seems like a big job. Why did you decide to start your own boardgames convention?

Kerrin: I love going to boardgame conventions. The longer the event the better. The people you meet make it a wonderful experience. During 2010 – 2014 I travelled to USA to attend World Boardgaming Championships (7 day event), Gen Con (5 day event), EuroQuest (4 day event), BGG Con (5 day event), Dice Tower Con (5 day event) KublaCon (3 day event) Pacificon (3 day event). In Australia I attended CanCon (3 day event), BorderCon (3 days, now 4 days) ConCentric (2.5 days), MeepleCon (2.5 days). In 2014 when I stopped travelling to USA (budget reasons), one of my American playing buddies said, “Why don’t you just run your own?” I thought, “Why not?” And here we are.

GvP: What’s been the hardest thing about running a games convention? Can you tell us any stories about something that happened that was unexpected?

Kerrin: The hardest thing is finding the right venue for the right price. Everything is so expensive in Australia. In the USA most cons run in a hotel. I spoke with a lot of function centres/hotels in Melbourne and everything starts at $5000 a day! Plus security (which we don’t need). Last year I teamed up with Melbourne Meeples Inc. who run MeepleCon and NSEG. You get better hire rates from council properties if you are incorporated or not-for-profit. We can also share admin/knowledge and convention tips and tricks.

GvP: How many people does it take to run a convention?

Kerrin: Ha ha ha, sounds like the beginning of a joke. Wish I could think of a good punchline … I do have a background in putting on events. Decades ago I used to run New Year’s Eve parties and other social events, so I knew what had to be done. OzBunnyCon is just me with some support on the days getting stuff to and from the venue, setting up and packing up. This is done by the attendees and every year I try to reduce the amount of work required as I want people to play games and have fun. I don’t really want to have a roster even though people are willing to help. I have tried to make OzBunnyCon self running and this year I think I have done it. Ask me after the event if it worked!

GvP: You’re clearly very passionate about boardgames. How did you first get into playing games yourself?

Kerrin: Loved boardgames as a kid. Played a lot of card games, Careers, Squatter and Cluedo (found Monolopy tiring). In 2006 I moved to USA to work and live in Silicon Valley. Being new in town I was looking for social activities to join. Found meetup.com and an event that was just around the corner playing a game called Settlers of Catan. I had never heard of it. Loved it and asked if there were any similar groups. There were many. The following weekend I went to an event at a library. Around 80 people there. Walked up to a table that were setting up a game and asked if I could join. They said yes. That game was Power Grid. When I got home, I told my friends “I found my tribe today”. It has been that way ever since. I think that is why I love conventions. I feel at home.

GvP: What are some of your favourite games at the moment, and why? Do you have any all-time favourite games?

Kerrin: Anyone who knows me, knows the answer to this question. Agricola, Agricola, Agricola. The most recent game that I can’t stop thinking about is TheColonists and can’t wait to find some other fans of the game to go on the epic journey with me. I avoid all games with direct conflict, bluffing, zombies and a few other things. I like games where you build/create something and get a sense of achievement even if you don’t have the highest score.

GvP: What are some tips you would give to people wanting to start their own conventions?

Kerrin: I get asked this a lot! Get a good ticketing system. I recommend trybooking.com. Find an affordable venue. Then get the word out.

GvP: And finally, what’s next for you?

Kerrin: Find people who will play The Colonists Era 1,2,3,4 is one sitting. Not sure it is even achievable but if you are interested, please contact me

Games vs Play would like to thank Kerrin Addis for permission to use images appearing in this post. OzBunnyCon 2017 will run in Melbourne over the Easter long weekend from Friday 14 – Monday 17 April at the Mount Waverley Youth Centre (pictured left). Click here to buy tickets, or go to the OzBunnyCon website for more details.

To find out more about the latest reviews, stories and other cool things in the world of games, like us on Facebook. And remember – if you’re game, we’ll play!

]]>http://gamesvsplay.com/5-minutes-with-kerrin-addis-founder-of-ozbunnycon/feed/0People Profile #12: Barantas Ericks, lead designer of Hand of Fate boardgamehttp://gamesvsplay.com/people-profile-12-barantas-ericks-lead-designer-of-hand-of-fate-boardgame/
http://gamesvsplay.com/people-profile-12-barantas-ericks-lead-designer-of-hand-of-fate-boardgame/#commentsWed, 22 Mar 2017 00:42:48 +0000http://gamesvsplay.com/?p=1574Games vs Play: Thanks very much Barantas Ericks for appearing on Games vs Play. Barantas (pictured right) is the lead designer behind the development of the Hand of Fate boardgame, which is being adapted from the original computer game by Rule & Make. Could you tell us a little bit about how this project came about?

Barantas Ericks: Yeah, thanks! Well, Hand of Fate the computer game is a rogue-like, dungeon crawler game. A large component of the game is made up of cards. A lot of it’s themed around Tarot cards, to some degree. When the game’s played there’s card laid out on a table in front of you, and you earn cards to build a deck out of them. A lot of playing the game comes from crafting this deck to be in your favour. And then you’re up against the Dealer, who basically puts things in the deck which are not in your favour.

GvP: And the Dealer’s the computer, I guess, so it mimics a boardgame in some ways with an AI as your opponent.

Barantas: Yeah, pretty much. The players are up against the game itself more than anything. The Dealer is there to be a “person” to interact with, but really you’re up against the game itself. It’s really cool, and if you do like boardgames I’d definitely suggest giving it a try.

So, with the Hand of Fate boardgame version, Morgan Jaffit – who’s one of the main creators of Hand of Fate – he’d been looking for a way to make a boardgame version for some time. There were always rumours and hearsay that he’d been working on one and it had been sitting there while he tried to get something going, Eventually he got into contact with Rule & Make (or maybe Rule & Make got into contact with him) about putting something together. Both are Brisbane-based companies, both are pretty much indie groups. It seemed a fairly good fit to get those two working together. Defiant Development makes some really good stuff, Rule & Make some really good stuff, so it was a nice match for them to work on it together.

GvP: So, how do you go about adapting a computer game into a boardgame? How do you change something that’s in digital format into something that’s sitting on the table?

Barantas: I’d say with a lot of effort, that’s the main thing. But there’s a lot of Hand of Fate that translates across really nicely to a boardgame, because it does have that board and card game feel to it. The mini games and some of the combat and other things don’t translate across quite so well, so it’s about coming up with new mechanics systems that work in that same sort of world. A lot of Hand of Fate is about pushing your luck to defeat the game when the odds are against you, so we’ve tried to carry that across into the boardgame. In the video game, all the combat is an action-based game. When you’re actually in a fight the map zooms in, you’re actually controlling your guy, weapon in one hand, shield in the other. It’s sort of like Assassins’ Creed or Batman: Arkham style of combat – you’ve got your attacks, and your blocks and you reactionary dodging. And unfortunately we can’t fit that into a boardgame!

So we’ve done a few things which I hope are pretty cool to sort of move away from exactly the same as what Hand of Fate is digitally and bring it across to a boardgame. Part of what we’ve done with that is translate the setting a little bit. In Hand of Fate 1 – and I don’t want to give any spoilers for anyone, because the end of that game is particularly great – two upturns happen towards the end of it. We’ve actually set the boardgame just after the end of Hand of Fate 1 but before the start of Hand of Fate 2. So the boardgame actually lives in between them.

GvP: That sounds cool, kind of like a bridging scenario.

Barantas: That’s what we’re hoping for. The story’s still being worked on, but that’s where it looks like it’s gonna end up being set. With the digital game, you know how I was saying you play against the game itself? In the boardgame we’ve made it so that you’re actually competing with other players. We’re doing a 2-4 player game. So it allows more people to play in a competitive dungeon crawl, but with some major deck-building aspects to it as well. It still keeps the core feeling of Hand of Fate, but it’s something new for people to have a look at as well. We don’t want to just carbon copy things across, we want something that’s new and fun for everyone.

GvP: That takes a lot of creative work in itself to give it it’s own space.

Barantas: Yeah, it’s a bit intimidating as well when you’re showing your version of something to someone who’s lovingly crafted, back to them. It’s like, “What do you think of what’s basically my fan fiction of your game?” [both laugh].

GvP: So what’s been the hardest thing to translate into a tabletop setting?

Barantas: I think the hardest thing to translate across is the thing that’s actually missing. In the boardgame the Dealer is mysteriously absent. Some people will know why he’s absent, some people won’t. He would’ve been the hardest thing to translate across, but he didn’t turn up! The Dealer’s off doing something else at the moment. But aside from that the hardest thing would’ve been the combat side of things. We’ve got character building, we’ve got deck building, and so you improve your character as you play. But you can’t have the same 1:1 action combat. So we built in a completely different system for that which flows pretty smoothly and doesn’t actually involve any dice. Combat without dice is a hard thing!

GvP: It’s also harder with boardgames to shift their mode of gameplay during the game, which I think computer games can do more easily. I’m interested to hear how you got into boardgames yourself, and particularly how your career started as a games designer?

Barantas: Well, I actually went to university to study game design. So I have a Bachelor in Games and Interactive Entertainment from QUT here in Brisbane. From a very young age I was very enamoured with games. You know, they gave that escape into fantasy and all the fun you could ever want as a kid. And for me that never went away. I originally learnt how to make digital games, but moving forward from there I found myself trying out different things and then found myself making boardgames instead.

GvP: How did that happen, that you moved from digital to boardgames?

Barantas: I think it was fairly organic. I would say the first time I actually came across to thinking, “Alright, I could actually make a boardgame,” was when I was sitting around a D&D table with some friends. We were talking about how in D&D if you ever backstab anyone there’s all these repercussions, and I started thinking, “What if you had a game where the purpose was to backstab as many friends as possible but without them knowing that you’d done it?” And I was like, “I could just make that.” And that was my first foray moving from digital to physical games. I found I really loved doing it, getting my chops on some graphic design, actually trying to do illustrations, which didn’t end very well [laughs]. But it’s really good to try to work yourself into all the different fields, because it’s a lot easier to try to build a boardgame as a single person. You can get it to a point where you can explain how to play it without having to make sure it doesn’t have any digital bugs! [laughs].

GvP: That’s very true! Now, I understand your name “Barantas Ericks” is a bit a of a pen name or a pseudonym of sorts. What’s the story behind choosing your name?

Barantas: Oh, the “Barantas” thing? This goes back to my really early teenage years, you know you have that rebellious period when you want to be someone else and be different and everything. More than anything though, I had a screen name at the time, because no one was using their real name on the Internet. It was funny. I was trying to look for something that would stand out and was original. I wanted to make sure that if you had a screen name you’d be the only one with it. I didn’t want to be just, you know, “DragonRaider475”. So I put together something that I thought wasn’t actually a word [laughs]. How geeky that was, trying to invent your own word! And eventually it turns out it’s an old Celtic word. You can never invent anything new. [laughs]

GvP: What does it mean in the original Celtic language?

Barantas: Well, I’m pretty sure I botched the pronunciation of it as well! Ah, let me just see, I’m pulling it up on the computer. [keys tapping]

GvP: I hope it means something like “games designer” or “singer of games.” That would be cool.

Barantas: Um, let’s see. I’ve got it here. So in the old Celtic language barantas means “security” or a “guarantee.” I think it also comes from some degree from the word baran, which means “judge” as I understand it. I can’t really see how much it really applies to games, but at least you get the “Barantas guarantee”, which means the “guarantee’s guarantee”. [both laugh]

GvP: That’s double the guarantee! You don’t get that very often these days. We’ll go with that. [both laugh] So, when it comes to ideas for your games, what have been some of your influences?

Barantas: Where do the ideas come from? Well, with Hand of Fate I was brought onboard to work on this because previously I’d been working on a few deck builders. I really like the concept and the way they feel. But I have some games that are thematic first and mechanical second, and vice versa. At the moment I’ve got Sugoi Bento with Table Tyrant, which is a game about building food boxes. It’s a fairly fun, casual game. The original idea for that game from when you were back in school and you had that one favourite food for lunch, and you wanted to trade to get that food from your friends. So it was about having a lunch box and trying to swap food with other people. From the lunch idea I jumped across to making food boxes, basically because my wife dropped in the idea, “What if you put it in a box?” And I was like, “What if you put it in a box?? That makes so much sense!” So you can either get a mechanical idea first and work that out to a concept or work out what sort of theme sits on top of it. It’s basically whatever catches my fancy, funnily enough! As far as the games that I’m inspired by at the moment, there’s Patchwork – have you ever played it?

GvP: No, what’s it about?

Barantas:Patchwork is a game about building a quilt of all things. It doesn’t sound super exciting, but you have a board and you’re trying to pick up quilt pieces, which are these geometric-shaped pieces that you load into your board. Basically you want to build a larger quilt than your opponent. But it has the brilliant system in which each action you take will influence what your opponent can do next round. So, depending on which piece you take will change which piece your opponent can take. If you choose to take no pieces it reduces the amount of time left in the game, so you’re going to have to work faster. There’s a lot of very clever, intricate things going on with every twist that you make. On your turn you only have two different choices, but it feels like there’s a lot more going on. I’m annoyed at how well it’s built! [laughs]

GvP: Professional jealousy!

Barantas: Yeah, professional jealousy on that one, definitely. It’s only two players as well, which is interesting. It makes for a really great couples’ game or dating game. If you’re ever going out to a boardgame café Patchwork is really good, because it’s not intense, even though you can definitely be competitive.

Barantas: Yeah, Betrayal as a first date game: “One of us will definitely backstab the other tonight.” Not a good start!

GvP: So what other games are you working on at the moment? I guess you’ve got other projects too.

Barantas: So there’s three main ones at the moment. There’s Hand of Fate, there’s Sugoi Bento, and then there’s a third one I’m working on for Rule & Make. Hopefully this one is going to be a much shorter game, so a small-box, 10-15 minutes game. That way I can have something out there that’s big-box, couple of hours; medium-box, 30-40 minutes; and then small box. You know, get every tendril out there that I can!

GvP: Yeah, great! Well, we’re nearly at the end of the questions. The last thing I wanted to ask you about was what sort of tips would you give to other games designers who are just starting out?

Barantas: Just try doing it, more than anything. The way I’ve gotten to what I’m doing now is by just trying to make things and have things to show to people. Work hard at it, then actually go out and meet people at boardgame events, things like PAX or other conventions. Just get out there and meet people, because you’ll find there are people working on similar kind of stuff. For instance, for Sugoi Bento the time that Table Tyrant saw that I was at one of their boardgames and burgers nights. I’d brought my own game along and I was like, “Hey, I need to test this out.” And one of the guys sitting on the table behind me, every now and then he’s turning around, looking like “Ah!” So yeah, go out and do more than anything. Do your work and love your work, but you need to make sure you’re out there knowing people. And also get on Kickstarter. For boardgames, there’s almost nothing better than Kickstarter right now.

GvP: Yeah, it’s awesome. Alright, thanks very much for that Barantas, that was great. Before we finish up was there anything else you wanted to talk about?

Barantas: Well, there’s a little sidestory to how I got the Hand of Fate deal. This is about a year ago now, before I was talking with Rule & Make about Hand of Fate. I was working in a computer shop here in Brisbane doing retail, and a couple of guys come in to pick up their order. And I’m like, “Oh, you guys are from Defiant Development?” And they were, “Yeah, yeah, we are.” “Oh – I heard you guys were looking for a boardgame version of Hand of Fate, because I’m sort of working on something for that.” A friend and I were trying to put something together, just for fun or maybe we thought we could talk with Defiant about it. And then these guys walk into the middle of my store. I know I’m working, but I have to take this opportunity! So I scribbled down my email address and details on the back of a card, handed it over to them. They were like, “Yeah, we’re based in Brisbane too, we’ll send you an email, we’re really interested in talking about it.” And you know I never heard back! Until a couple of weeks ago, when one of the guys from Defiant heard this story, and he was like, “Hang on, was that you?” It was just this weird coincidence, that eventually I got to work with Rule & Make, who got this opportunity [to make Hand of Fate] and then came back to me to do it. Funny thing.

GvP: It was the hand of fate moving in your favour.

Barantas: Yeah! Basically one of the Tarot cards slipped up in the right way.

GvP: There you go. It was meant to be.

Barantas: It seems that way, which is very lucky because I’m loving working on it. I like making games that people like to play, and I like making games that I like to play. And I really like playing this [laughs].

Stay tuned for news of the Kickstarter launch of Rule & Make’s boardgame adaptation of Hand of Fate.

Games vs Play would like to thank Rule & Make and Barantas Ericks for permission to use images of the Hand of Fate boardgame prototype appearing in this post. All images from the computer game of Hand of Fate owned by Defiant Development. To find out more about the latest reviews, stories and other cool things in the world of games, like us on Facebook. And remember – if you’re game, we’ll play!

]]>http://gamesvsplay.com/people-profile-12-barantas-ericks-lead-designer-of-hand-of-fate-boardgame/feed/0People Profile #11: Caitlin Brown and Simon Hill of Humblebee Gameshttp://gamesvsplay.com/people-profile-11-caitlin-brown-and-simon-hill-of-humblebee-games/
http://gamesvsplay.com/people-profile-11-caitlin-brown-and-simon-hill-of-humblebee-games/#commentsSun, 12 Mar 2017 00:04:25 +0000http://gamesvsplay.com/?p=1545GvP: Good morning, it’s Martin here from Games vs Play. Today I’m meeting with Caitlin Brown and Simon Hill from Humblebee Games (shown below), who are based here in Melbourne, Australia. Thanks very much guys for meeting on this really cool morning. I don’t know what’s going on, it should be summer at the moment!

Caitlin Brown: Yeah, I know [laughs].

Simon Hill: It’s been a crazy summer!

GvP: Ok, let’s start. So, the first question I’ve got is, how many games have you designed or are currently working on?

Simon: Currently working on two, one digital and one tabletop – although I guess that one’s finished, isn’t it?

Caitlin: I guess we’re promoting this one. This year is going to be our year when we just go out and try to push this.

GvP: So which game is this one?

Caitlin: This is Remarkable Rhymes of the Traveller’s Times. It’s a game we Kickstarted last year in November [2016], and we’ve got our shipment now. We’re just about to go to some markets and see how that goes. Just locally, around Melbourne. Arts and crafts markets, Sunday markets, stuff like that.

GvP: So how does this game work? Can you give us a description?

Caitlin: It’s a social card game for 3-6 players. It’s like a family-friendly version of Cards Against Humanity, where one person reads out a little rhyming story and the other players have to fill in the missing adjectives and noun blanks to complete the scene. And whoever the card reader likes the most, they pick them as the winner for that round and they get a point. And then it goes around. So you create a little story for the traveller.

Simon: Yeah. It’s really easy to play, even if you’re quite tired. It doesn’t take too much brain power, which is quite pleasant when you want to play something late or if you’re tired.

GvP: I know what you mean. Eurogames can be fun, but you have to be awake. You guys do electronic games too, is that right?

Simon: First couple were arcade games for mobiles. We did a game called Three Hungry Dragons. This was just a very simple game where you had three different coloured dragons, and you had to switch to which one was active depending on which coloured meteors were flying down the screen. We did a puzzle game where you have a character and you have to move around in a certain pattern to clear up all the spaces to get to the next level, and so on.

Caitlin: And then there was Ridiculous Skipping, which we did in June last year [2016]. That’s an arcade game, it’s a one-tap game where you have a character that skips over a rope. There’s lots of different suits you can unlock and fishes too, you can make them jump as well.

GvP: That sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe I’ll ask, how did Humblebee Games begin?

Caitlin: Well, we met at uni. Then we just happened to move into a share-house together, and then we were like, “Well, let’s make some games.”

Simon: Yeah, we started working together.

Caitlin: And then we just made it into an official business.

GvP: What were you guys studying, can I ask?

Caitlin: Games design.

GvP: Oh, that makes perfect sense [all laugh]

Simon: Pretty direct correlation there.

GvP: So how long ago was that, when Humblebee Games started?

Simon: It was about three years ago. It was about a year after we graduated that we moved into the same share-house. Very convenient for working together.

Caitlin: I would advise that for anyone starting a games company, or a developer or whatever. Just live together. [both laugh]

GvP: Well, it’s make or break, isn’t it? You’d know pretty quickly if it were going to work out. So, where does the name come from, Humblebee Games? I can kind of get how it’s buzzing off a certain pun, but what’s that story?

Caitlin: I think we just brainstormed a lot. It was the only thing we could settle with.

Simon: I think we both liked the word “humble”, because we’re both fairly humble people. And bees are a kind of animal – well, insect in this case – that have a very children’s storybook feeling as well. It was those things combined.

GvP: Bumblebees are kind of cute insects, not known for stinging that much. For me, too, it strikes a bell for ‘busy bees’ working away.

Caitlin: Yeah, little bees buzzing away. And they’re good for the environment!

GvP: So, have you guys been playing games yourselves for a while?

Simon: I guess we’ve both played games all our lives, both digital and non-digital.

Caitlin: Although I was pretty late to tabletop. At uni I started to get into that.

Simon: Oh, right? [sounding surprised]

Caitlin: Before that I played Monopoly. I liked UNO too. That was about it. And then I played 7 Wonders, and I realised there was a whole world out there outside of UNO and Monopoly!

Simon: I had no idea that before that you hadn’t played, other than Monopoly and UNO before.

Caitlin: Nope. Not really, yeah. [both laugh]

Simon: Oh, ok.

GvP: You sound shocked.

Simon: I’m broken!

Caitlin: [mimicking Simon] “Why I didn’t know about this?!?”

Simon: I’m not judging you!

GvP: No, no, that didn’t sound judgmental!

Simon: No, not at all! I’m just surprised. I thought you’d played more tabletop games.

Caitlin: I remember I used to play a lot of card games. A lot at high school. And actually I just remembered now that when I was a kid – because after I started making tabletop games my mum was like, “Oh hey, why don’t you have a look at our old boardgames collection for inspiration?” And I was like, “What boardgames?” And she opened the wardrobe and pulled out these really old ‘90s games, like Dr Seuss games, and there was a Pokemon boardgame. There was one called The White Unicorn, or something. That was really cool – I loved it when I was a kid, and I love it now.

GvP: I guess boardgames are often things you played at home with your family. So, with the games that you guys design, where do the ideas come from?

Simon: You have to keep an open mind. Because we’re still quite new, you have to focus on simple things that work really well. Especially with digital, we can’t be too big at this point. We can’t invest in some big project that runs for 1-2 years, because we don’t know how successful something will be. We try to think up quite simple mechanics, or something that will resonate with people. You have to have something that’s instantly recognisable and understandable. And then for the theme you have to have something that’s at least semi-familiar, or something that people will recognise. If you have those two things, hopefully it will work out.

Caitlin: I guess for the ideas – if we look at our two tabletop games, one was Simon’s idea after watching a bunch of tabletop reviews or play throughs. But for Remarkable Rhymes it was only because we sort of agreed to be on at PAX without a game a month before it was meant to start!

GvP: What happened?

Caitlin: TGDA – Tabletop Games Designers Australia – they were getting this booth together, and they were like, “Who wants to be on it?” And we were like, “Yeah!” We thought we’d do something with our first tabletop, Amalgamania. But then we were like, well maybe we can do something else? And then it got to a month before PAX, and we were like, “Oh, we haven’t really prepared anything!” So we were like, let’s just make a game, a social game that’s really quick, just so we’d have something. So we did, and it was … not bad [both laugh].

Simon: Worked out pretty well really.

GvP: Sometimes having an external deadline is amazingly motivating.

Caitlin: It really is! So, one of our tabletop games was out of necessity, the other out of fun. They come from anywhere.

GvP: So, is this a full-time job for you guys?

Caitlin and Simon: Yee-esss [both laugh]

Caitlin: Around April last year [2016] we got on NEIS, New Enterprise Incentive Scheme, which is a government-run thing where you propose a business to them and they approve, or say think about it some more.

Simon: They give small business training, so you get a Certificate III in Microbusiness Operations.

Caitlin: And then after that they give 6 months of income support. If you do well according to your business plan they give you an extra 3 months, so you could have a potential of 9 months total of income to start your business. So we proposed making games, and that’s what we’re doing.

GvP: So how many people does it take to make one of your games? Or is it you guys?

Simon: It is … us [both laugh]. We do everything.

GvP: How do you split the roles for the production of the game?

Simon: Well, Caitlin does more of the art, design and illustration. If it’s a digital game I do the programming. There’s no programming for a tabletop game, but we both do design. Caitlin does art, I’ll do image processing – there’s a lot of fiddly stuff to do. There’s always things to be done, so I’m just like, “What needs to be done?” and I just do it.

Caitlin: If it was the Kickstarter, it would be writing pages of stuff they want to know for the Kickstarter. For manufacturing you need to be comparing prices –

Simon: Yeah, spreadsheets, documents. Other than programming and art, we pretty much just split everything. “I want to work on this – do you want to work on that?”

Caitlin: It’s easier that way. One person is hard – so much work. But with two or three it’s manageable. Beyond that it starts getting miscommunications.

GvP: Cool. So, what are some games that you guys like, either digital or tabletop?

Simon: Some of my older answers are … Portal, a puzzle game. BioShock for the storytelling. Those two were really quite strong influences for me. Earlier on, big influences for me were Age of Empires, Warcraft, and Majesty.

Caitlin: For me, Fables is in there, for that balance between traditional RPG storytelling but also humour as well. And then for tabletop … this is a tricky question! [laughs] It’s hard to remember.

GvP: So, what are some tips you would give to other games designers as they’re starting out?

Caitlin: I would say, think about your goals. Why do you want to make games? And then make a game that is directly related to that.

Simon: The more common tips are “Keep it simple, keep it small.” And don’t be afraid to move on. Sometimes you’ve learnt enough and can move on to something else. Don’t be afraid of doing that. Things evolve. You have to be really flexible, and learn to take feedback on board. It takes everybody a little while to get there, but you have to be super open to feedback, because in the end hopefully you’re making it for a group of people and not just yourself.

Caitlin: That’s sort of what I meant by being clear about your goals. Are you making it for you, or for your friends? Or for everyone? Do you want to make money?

Simon: It depends if you’re in the learning hobby phase, or if you actually want to get other people to play it. Because if it’s more learning, you can make different goals – what do I want to learn? What is that project going to teach you? If you do a couple of those types of project you’ll hopefully learn a lot quite quickly, and then you can move on to projects that you think a certain group of people might want to play.

Caitlin: You can build upon it as well. So you might finish one small game, but scope it bigger next time.

Simon: Once you’ve got a big enough library of history, you can pull out things that you’ve learnt and kind of mash things together. This kind of thing worked really well in this spot, now I’m going to use it in this space. You get your own tool set.

Caitlin: And it’s also about what’s your message, what message do you want to spread. So with Remarkable Rhymes I was really interested in poetry, but it’s really boring to most people. But if you put a bit of RPG elements into it, and a bit of creativity, you can make it fun.

Simon: I think most people do this – we certainly did this – when you start out you’re like, “What do I want to make?” That’s as far you think. And you start making something but then you realise, “Oh, maybe people won’t like this,” and then, “Oh, even I don’t like this!”

GvP: You guys have obviously done a lot of thinking and a lot of work to understand all these things already. So maybe my final question is looking to the future. What’s next for Humblebee Games?

Caitlin: We’re making another digital game at the moment, which is going back over our first puzzle game, Crumble Jumble. You have to walk along tiles to get to a door, but you have to walk along every tile. When you get to the last one you go up a level, and the levels get harder. So we’re revisiting that.

Simon: We’re simplifying it for mobile games. We found that that was one of our most successful games so far. Previously it was 3D, but we’re making it 2D and in the retro style. The retro style is quite popular, but instead of doing pixel art we’re using really simple colours and glitch art. So every so often some of the art will glitch out, and you’ll get stripes of magenta and cyan. A lot of the animations are just going to be on-off, so it’s really similar to those old games like the first Donkey Kong where the screen was just all lights but not proper animation. Things just appear and disappear. So we’re trying to mimic that kind of style. Having a mechanic that works, bringing it to a really simple, clean aesthetic that has an interesting throwback to times gone by. That’s our next attempt at a digital game.

GvP: Do you have a working title for that game that you can reveal?

Caitlin: Not … really [laughs]

GvP: You can be mysterious and say, “I cannot reveal it!”

Caitlin: Well, our working title is just Puzzle Glitch Game. [all laugh]

Simon: And for the future, we just literally a few days ago got our order for Remarkable Rhymes, which we’re both so thrilled about. So we can’t really see that far past that at the moment, because this is the next stage of seeing what we can do with Remarkable Rhymes. But we both really like narrative and story – recently we both started playing a game called Undertale, which is a very quirky RPG. We both really like narrative and quirky things. That’s something we’d really like to explore, but that genre’s kind of risky. Ideally we’d like to build up a solid foundation first, and then we could explore a lot of different areas and more quirky, less mainstream ideas. Experiential tabletop and digital games. That would be fantastic to let our creativity fly.

GvP: Like a large bumblebee – not so humble!

Caitlin: Flight of the humblebees! [all laugh]

Remarkable Rhymes of the Traveller’s Times is now available for order from the Humblebee Games website.

Games vs Play would like to thank Humblebee Games for permission to use images appearing in this post. To find out more about the latest reviews, stories and other cool things in the world of games, like us on Facebook. And remember – if you’re game, we’ll play!

I first heard of Chris Darril when I was scouring for information on the old Clock Tower series many years ago. It seems there was a very ambitious young artist – Chris Darril – who was in the process of creating a spiritual successor to the Clock Tower series, known as Remothered. A five-minute video as well as screen shots were available showing some animated film scenes and gameplay mechanics for this stylish upcoming 2D title (an example shown right). My mouth dropped to the floor! It looked incredible! After learning that it was all being built by ONE guy I was amazed at the care, dedication and talent poured into the game. Word got around that Remothered was about to become something so much more and then … nothing. The video of this indie project disappeared from YouTube, the screen shots vanished and the website gave a vague description that the game would be returning soon.

Recently, videos and screenshots emerged from the Internet. Remothered was back in full 3D with a hearty budget created by a team of professionals. The original designer Chris appointed as the lead games designer for the project! I wanted to know more about Chris and his journey from a small indie games designer to lead games designer of a project he started many years ago. I contacted Chris and he agreed to an interview!

Please note: Chris is a native Italian speaker. Game vs Play have done our best to faithfully portray the spirit of Mr Darril’s responses during the course of this interview.

Games vs Play: Thanks for meeting with Games vs Play, Chris. My first question is, how many games have you designed, or are currently working on?

Chris Darril (pictured left): Hello Leigh, thanks for your precious time to meet with me and talk about my project Remothered. It is truly an honour. Well, I worked on different games with different roles. Professionally, I started as a concept artist and illustrator then I moved onto other roles such as art director and image board artist. Once I had chance to show my other skills I started as a creative director, games designer and art director in games such as Forgotten Memories: Alternate Realities. I’m currently working on Remothered broken into three chapters; that is to say, I am actually working on completing three complete projects at the same time! Eheheh! I have also been asked to work on some secret projects that I currently can’t reveal. One of these projects is not related to videogames. I can’t say any more as I’m totally focused on Remothered for the moment

GvP: Can you tell us a bit about how your career as a video game designer began?

Chris Darril: First of all just for love’s sake. It was a hobby, but my passion grew as I was honing my skills and other assorted training. My first example is the 2D version of Remothered which I developed on RPG Maker XP. That was the main prototype behind Remothered as it is known today. I was only 18 when I started making the prototype. This was followed by making a game named Releasya on the Origami platform created for a Global Game Jam session. After this, I knew that this should be my future job. And there’s nothing cooler than to do what you love to do. So I studied and speedily started as professional.

GvP: So, how did you first get into playing video games?

Chris Darril: As explained before, I always loved videogames and the wonderful phenomenon of games meeting movies. Artistically I think they’re both similar as well complementary. It was just for a hobby. Being a huge fan of videogames and films I started as a common one-man-developer, my first experiment the 2D Remothered prototype. When this small and incomplete game creation I started as an experiment gathered all of this unexpected worldwide interest I started to be contacted and recruited from different societies to join their teams and that’s how everything started.

I should have become a plastic surgeon, eheheh! Then my plans changed and I found my real (and beloved) path. I couldn’t believe that the gaming world, the world which I admired the most in my life, would become something I could turn into a career. I always loved games, every kind of game. Probably the ones I like less are the sports ones. I started with the common point & click adventures (Chicken and Pulley, indeed.) Game vs Play might recognise the Chicken and Pulley to be a reference to the Monkey Island games! Lol! I enjoy various gaming platforms and their games created such as Super Mario & Co., fighting games such as Mortal Kombat II. Mortal Kombat is my favourite fighting game saga. I then arrived at my most beloved genres: adventure and horror, such as Silent Hill, Resident Evil 2, Tomb Raider II. The list of games I loved kept growing thereafter.

GvP: Great! Can you tell us more about your upcoming trilogy, Remothered?

Chris Darril:Remothered is the game I would love to play. Upcoming horror titles self-proclaim things like “a survival horror experience” or, better yet, “the return of real survival horror”. Although it could be considered my favorite videogame genre ever, I think there are only a few examples of (almost) “real survival horror(s)”. Some examples are Alien: Isolation, Clock Tower, Haunting Ground, Fatal Frame II, Siren: Blood Curse, Amnesia: The Dark Descent and The Evil Within’s DLC The Assignment (just terrifying!). It’s easy to say “this is a survival game” giving you tons of fire power, weapons, explosives and characters with super-hero like abilities or jump scares with the assistance of a talented musician.

Remothered is a new experiment. It’s true we conceived Remothered as a game somewhere between Alien: Isolation in the terms of a true survival experience and crazy hide and run sequences also coupled with The Last of Us type speed gameplay, including stealth, a 3rd person perspective and the addition of a character skills levelling system. It is not just about these gameplay elements. Remothered is also a tragic story about everyday events linked with people’s nightmares and fears: haunted by death, loneliness, illness, schizophrenia and past torments. I’m sure people will be terrified and scared as hell. At the end you will cry … a lot.

Chris Darril: Well, I grew up with Clock Tower “and friends”. I was terribly afraid of Scissorman and I loved playing as a common human running from him looking for a hiding place. It was true, it was natural, it was believable. This is probably what inspired Remothered the most. In Remothered we took the most believable feelings from games and movies. True sensations as a human being in a world that feels grounded in reality. Rosemary’s Baby, The Silence of the Lambs, Shining, Mulholland Drive and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? are some of my favourite films ever.

The discomfort, paranoia, duplicity and insanity you can feel in movies, like the ones I just named, will totally weigh on the events and the characters. The player will start doubting their own self and their own feelings. Imagine a world where you play a protagonist that is not a hero, instead is a pure anti-hero, in a world where the monsters are just common people and where your own character is a monster itself. Imagine a mysterious woman smoking a cigarette while reflecting if they are really the hero or the anti-hero. These feelings will be felt and enjoyed by those playing Remothered, a 3rd person survival horror game where you need to be sly, quick and silent, a game where your survival is the only means of discovering the truth.

GvP: You have mentioned in another interview that you are not just ‘a horror guy.’ What other games have you enjoyed playing and how have these games influenced your work?

I can say that Remothered, although it is an original game and is styled in the form of the survival horror genre, will reawaken nostalgic feelings in players, like a beautiful masterpieces from the past. I can easily say that there’s a part of the game, especially in the last chapter of the trilogy, that is inspired by the evergreen classic Cinema Paradiso. This film is an Acadamy Award winner for best foreign language movie in 1990. It is a movie that I deeply admire and love.

GvP: I’ve followed the original concept design of Remothered prior to the project being assigned a budget with Darril Arts in conjunction with Stormind Games. How much has the game changed since its initial design?

Chris Darril: A lot. Remothered was a nice but silly incomplete horror game. Ok, I acknowledge it was a good merger of gameplay and movie media, but it was also a really premature game made by a really young guy with limited resources and technology. I was only 18. I have grown a lot since then. True, I did gather much invaluable experience while working on that project, but I really needed to know more before attempting to create the game. This would enable me to give the attention and expertise it deserved. Sadly I kept it in hiatus for many years until I had more experience. Later, I found the bravery and the strength to start the project again after my work experiences with the staff of NightCry and Forgotten Memories: Alternate Realities. I re-started Remothered with my beloved Darril Arts and Stormind Games partners. I re-wrote the plot and the characters. I re-imagined the universe making it a 360-degree analysis of psychological fears and diseases and nightmares. I moved the point of view from a typical 15-year-old girl to a mature 35-year-old woman [named Rosemary, and pictured above right]. More atypical for this game genre where all the protagonists are younger, sexier or fearless. I’ve limited the esotericism directing the game towards realism and the nature of fear. Remothered will also have a new gameplay structure with complex characteristics: from crazy AI, character skills development and realistic strategies for characters to utilise in the game.

GvP: What do you foresee for Darril Arts in the future?

Chris Darril: Well, first of all, we hope for the success of this project because we really believed in Remothered. We still can’t believe how lucky we are to be working on this project! We see Remothered as being the answer to players who are mourning the loss of cancelled titles such as P.T./Silent Hills. Remothered is a game for those that didn’t enjoy the latest Resident Evil 7game because of its change from third person to first person perspective. Remothered is a pure survival horror, re-calling the old school but ready to inspire future projects with its innovation. We have spent a lot of time, money and energy and we made it with all our love as one big family, all united for one purpose. As founder, creative director and lead game designer, I’ve already got my next-project lined up (one of them is another “horror”). I’m yet to pull the rabbit out of the hat, ehehhe! There are still a lot of variables depending on the success of the Remothered Trilogy, for sure

GvP: What are some tips for people wanting to create their own video games?

Chris Darril: Never give up, never be impatient, never wait for results to just happen and train as much as you can. Just believe in yourself deeply, hardily and crazily. Sometimes it’s not just a good idea that will guarantee you a future. You need to be trusted and people must believe in your work. Ask to join little teams and little projects. Start with smaller roles and contribute to a bigger purpose. No one starts from the top, no one starts with a fully funded project ready to hit the stores. Make it for the love of doing it, for the love for arts and for the love of sharing your skills. [Pictured left: a screenshot of Remothered in the concept stage prior to being allocated a budget.]

GvP: And finally, what’s next for you?

Chris Darril: We will find out together. I love what Remothered has generated from the public, unexpectedly great feedback already. I’m absolutely happy and proud of it. People around the world have already created a specialized wikia page. So, for the moment, I’ll patiently wait for its release. This will be the proud day I’ll show my imaginary world of horror, powered and developed by the coolest teams (and friends) ever: Darril Arts and Stormind Games.

Remothered: Tormented Fathers, the first chapter of the highly anticipated survival-horror saga Remothered, will hit the market in 2017. Darril Arts and Stormind Games are finishing the development of the game, that will be released for PlayStation 4 and Steam. You can watch the announcement trailer here. To follow more news on the upcoming release of Remothered: Tormented Fathers, go to the Facebook page.

Games vs Play would like to thank Chris Darril for permission to use images appearing in this post. To find out more about the latest reviews, stories and other cool things in the world of games, like us on Facebook. And remember – if you’re game, we’ll play!

]]>http://gamesvsplay.com/people-profle-10-chris-darril-games-designer-and-creator-of-remothered/feed/0People Profile #9: Melissa Rogerson, co-chair Boardgames Australia and PhD candidatehttp://gamesvsplay.com/people-profile-9-melissa-rogerson-co-chair-boardgames-australia-and-phd-candidate/
http://gamesvsplay.com/people-profile-9-melissa-rogerson-co-chair-boardgames-australia-and-phd-candidate/#commentsSat, 28 Jan 2017 22:10:14 +0000http://gamesvsplay.com/?p=1364The boardgames community is full of people who are passionate about their hobby, but there are some people who we here at Games vs Play are just in awe of. In People Profile #9 we caught up with Melissa Rogerson, co-chair of Boardgames Australia, PhD candidate, and quite possibly the single most knowledgeable person about boardgames that we’ve had the pleasure of meeting so far.

Games vs Play: So I’m here with Melissa Rogerson, co-chair of Boardgames Australia and PhD candidate in the user experience of boardgames. Thanks for coming along Melissa, it’s really nice to see you again.

Melissa Rogerson: Thank you for having me.

GvP: I know that boardgames have been a big part of your life. How did you get into boardgames?

MR: The first boardgame that I actively remember playing would be Santa’s Workshop [both laugh]. We’re talking about 1974. We’d travelled overseas, and the people who rented our house left some boardgames behind, and Santa’s Workshop was one of them. My brother and I used to just play it all the time. In hindsight, I think it was a variant of Candy Land, which was never a very big game in Australia. As far as my brother and I were concerned the victory condition was getting the card with Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer on it. I would’ve been about four back then. I remember my grandmother, who died when I was seven, playing a lot of Solitaire and Patience. My dad was a champion Bridge player, and so he was very keen that we learn to play cards. He taught us to play a game called Oh Hell. In its most Euro-form it’s known as Wizard. My mother always used to get stressed and say, “Oh, don’t call it Oh Hell, call it Oh Bother.” [both laugh]. When I was about eight my parents opened what was going to be a bookshop, but it quickly became a book and game shop.

GvP: Oh, where was that?

MR: It was in East Kew, it was called Decision Games. We had a boy who lived locally – when I say a “boy” I think he was at uni – and he came in and said, “You should sell this great new game called Dungeons & Dragons.” So mum and dad started stocking Dungeons & Dragons. I remember they had games like Empire of the Petal Throne and Bunnies & Burrows. We used to run Dungeons & Dragons during the school holidays – we’d always have a Dungeons & Dragons game going on out the back of the shop. I played my first game of Diplomacy when I was about ten, and the boy from up the road said – he was playing England, I was France – he said, “Normally, if England moved into the English Channel that would be a declaration of war, but we’re ganging up on Germany. So if you let me into the English Channel we’ll do that.” And I went, “Yep, fine,” and he obliterated me on turn 2. It took a while before I played Diplomacy again. [both laugh]

GvP: Those wounds cut deep, don’t they!

MR: Yes! I played a lot of roleplaying games as well. I went to the first Arcanacon in 1983, which is where I met Fraser, who’s now my husband. Our older daughter was born in 1998, and we were certainly playing Settlers of Catan by then. I think it was not long after that that we really started to move from mainly being roleplayers who played boardgames, to mainly playing boardgames.

GvP: Why was that, do you think?

MR: Partly it was time. Being in a roleplaying campaign is a big time commitment, and when you’ve got a child that’s harder, whereas a boardgame has a limited playing time. And of course that was also the time when German games started to come to Australia. It was about 2003 that I played a game of Carcassonne, and I went, “Right, that’s a fantastic game! I want to get that!” My brother was working at Mind Games at the time, and we went in and bought it. We were seeing a movie that night, and Fraser hadn’t played the game. So I said, “You’ve got to read the rules, this is a fantastic game.” I opened it up and he sort of grabbed the rulebook, and I was like “What am I going to do now?” But there was a catalogue in there, too. Rio Grande used to put catalogues of games in their boxes – they still do – and I remember looking through it and thinking, “Oh my god, I want to play every single game in this catalogue.” I think that has really characterized our involvement in the hobby, because it’s not like being a chess champion, where you go really deep and only play that one game, or you know, like my experience as a competitive bridge player (I played on the Victorian Youth Bridge Team in 1996). To be good at bridge you need to be working all the time on that one game. Whereas, to enjoy German games – or Eurogames as we’re calling them now – and other modern boardgames, there’s this huge variety. There’s always something different to explore, which is one of the things that really attracts me to it.

GvP: What do you think, then, about the Australian game scene? How does it compare now to other parts of the world?

MR: One of the things that I hear people talk about is that women are under-represented in games groups in some parts of the world. I think one of the things that the people who have driven the scene in Melbourne have done very well is to position social gaming as a social experience. As a result I’ve heard visitors comment on how many women they see at gaming events and in groups. When I’m at PAX, for instance, which is one of the few really big events that I typically attend, there are lots of men and lots of women, and it feels quite even. But look, I personally haven’t experienced any problems with my gender, so that’s not something I feel particularly an authority on, or able to speak for what other people might’ve experienced. But even from those very early days at Arcanacon where there were only 5-10% women, I was a shy thirteen year old but I was comfortable enough to keep going to these events.

GvP: Now, you’re also doing your PhD on boardgames. Could you tell us a bit about that?

MR: In my professional life I had been working in user experience and information design, particularly understanding the user experience and the user journey through a website. What my PhD does is bring those two areas [of games and user experience] together. I’m in the School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne, and I’m actually part of the Microsoft Research Centre for Social NUI, which stands for “Natural User Interface”. We have a research interest in gesture and gaze and speech as ways that people use to interact with a system. In that sense, a game itself is a system. Now, I’m trying to understand the player experience of boardgames. One of my research questions is, “Why do people play boardgames?” I did a series of quite in-depth interviews, and what I found was that there are four four things that come up consistently. The sociality is one that we know about. Boardgamers talk about that face to face contact, sitting around a table with other people. Intellectual challenge is another thing, that concept of problem solving, of thinking something through, of optimizing – that’s really important to a lot of people. I think one person might’ve mentioned winning, but generally winning isn’t that important. It’s the Reiner quote, you know, how you look playing the game that’s important [both laugh]. It’s the striving to win that’s important. Those two things were discussed in considerable detail by Stewart Woods in his PhD and in his book, Eurogames.

GvP: Which is a great book, I may add.

MR: Yeah, it’s fantastic. Stew is a bit of a trailblazer. The third thing that comes up quite consistently is variety. It’s why we have so much trouble when we’re asked, “What’s your favourite game?” Variety is enormously important. The fourth thing that people talk about is having things to touch. They’ll talk about the beauty of the game, and how important it is to actually have that tangible material thing. They talk about hanging games on wall as artwork. The other thing that they talk about which speaks to that materiality and really rings a bell for me is games a souvenir of a moment. We have a game that we use as a visitors’ book. Whenever we get visitors from overseas, we get them to sign the inside of the box of this particular game. So, what I’m doing at the moment is actually observing people playing games. I get groups of 4-6 people to come in to the lab for the evening. I supply some snacks and a selection of games. We’ve got video cameras set up around the room, and I record the session to get an understanding of what’s going on while people are playing a game. I’m particularly interested in what I would call the expert players, in the way they interact with other players and the game components.

GvP: What are you finding?

MR: One of the really interesting things is that a paper that was written about team management-type video games – you know, where you’re the soccer team manager – actually has enormous relevance to how people play boardgames. There are different levels of interactions. This is by a guy at Swinburne University called Steve Conway, and Steve calls them the social, the operator and the character levels. The social level is where I say, “Oh, Martin, do you want another drink?” or “Can you pass me the lollies?” The operator level is, “Can you move my piece four more spaces?” or “What can I do with this card?” And then the character is level is when you speak as if you were the game piece. But the other thing that’s going on is that at the social level there’s an interesting split between conversation that is purely social, and conversation about games. For instance one of my kids calls Machi Koro, “Dominion crossed with Settlers.” This is one of those references where you’re referring to other games both to build your social capital as a gamer, but also to speak the same language and set the scene for other people. I find that quite interesting.

GvP: You’ve also been on the radio a bit lately. What do you think it is about games that people are intereted in?

MR: It comes in cycles. I’d often get calls to do radio on Christmas Day or Boxing Day when people are thinking “Now what do we do with the kids for the next couple of months?” About 12 months ago [i.e. late 2015] I did an interview with Sonia Feldhof of ABC Adelaide. Coming out of that they asked if I’d be interested in doing some talkback about games. We did four sessions two weeks apart, looking mainly at traditional games and particularly the rules that people get wrong. I started with Cluedo, which is my favourite of the traditional boardgames. The second session was on UNO, which was really popular, and we had lots and lots of talkback callers and texts coming out of that. I did Western Australia drive radio one night, and I also did Perth breakfast radio where we got Warren Adams from Western Australian Boardgames to come in to the studio as well.

GvP: You’re also co-chair for Boardgames Australia. Could you maybe talk a bit about what you do there?

MR: Not enough! [laughs] So, Boardgames Australia is a not-for-profit group that we set up to promote boardgames as a hobby and as a family activity [that’s their logo on the right]. When we look at something like the Spiel des Jahres in Germany, it’s really come out of the history of positive promotion of boardgaming to families. And it’s really built this amazing industry. You know, Germany is the golden child, the place we all look to for boardgames. We wanted to see if we could build something like that here. We’ve got three different arms of what we do. The first one is probably the one people know the most about, and that is our Boardgames Awards. We have three prizes: Best Children’s Game, Best Australian Game, and Best International Game. What I think it is fair to say we have seen in the nearly ten years since we had the first round of awards, is this real improvement in the quality of the games coming out of Australia. I think that is something we can really celebrate. The second thing that we do is support game designers. Richard Vickery, the co-chair, has done some great work around his Protospiel events in Sydney. The third arm of Boardgames Australia has been around the use of games in education, encouraging schools to think about using games and running game events.

GvP: Sounds like you’re busy! You mentioned before that you started out in roleplaying games. I was going to ask you something else – how do you feel about video games?

MR: Love ‘em. I don’t play them much, I’m a bit of klutz! [laughs] A friend must’ve had one of the early Nintendos, because I remember playing Frogger on Nintendo. I’m playing Pokemon Go with kids at the moment, and both Fraser and I played a lot of Civilisation. I prefer building games, I suppose, as opposed to point and shoot type of games, which probably relates to that Eurogame style of building things. I love being able to play some games on my phone or my iPad. Ascension is one game that I don’t think I’d play all the expansions on a table, but playing it on my iPad is magnificent. I actually had someone tell me about their child travelling overseas and using games as a sign of life. Say you’ve got an older teenager who’s travelling overseas, they’re not going to be emailing you every day. They’re probably not even going to be updating Facebook or Snapchat. But they might take their turn in Ascension, or in Words with Friends. Chances are that if someone’s murdered them and stolen their phone, they’re not going to be logging into their games centre to keep their games going. So, chances are your kid’s ok if they’re still taking their turns. I think that’s a lovely way to think about it!

GvP: I don’t think I know many other people who know so much about games. Have you been tempted to make one yourself?

MR: Yeah, look, I made a couple, but they’re not very good! I made one – and give me credit if anyone designs a game based on this – but my younger daughter loved this series of books by a women called Daisy Meadows. They’re about fairies. They come out in series of seven books, and the first one was about rainbow fairies. There’s two little girls at the beach, and they have to rescue the seven rainbow fairies. So there’s Ruby the Red Fairy, Saffron the Yellow Fairy, etc. Anybody who’s got daughters will probably know all of these books by heart. I think we stopped buying them at 200 or something.

GvP: Oh my goodness.

MR: Yeah. So, for my younger daughter’s sixth birthday I made her a little game about going and rescuing the rainbow fairies. You had to move around the board and rescue the fairies, I don’t remember. It was a crap game, it was completely solvable, but she thought it was just wonderful. And then after that I made a sort of kids’ version of Agricola about doing chores on a farm and then going out, and you know, milking the cows, turning the milk into butter. I guess in the same way that Le Havre: The Inland Port meshes up with Le Havre. My younger daughter thought it was just the most magnificent thing ever, she used to take it to conventions and teach it to adults. But that’s really as far as I’ve got. For many years I’ve joked about making a game called Elefanten Rodeo, which actually is “Elephant Rodeo” but has to be in German because it sounds better. We got as far as prototyping this game where you’re flicking cowboy-shaped figures onto elephants. What I find when I try to design games is that they’re generally completely solvable. I’ll design a system that works, rather than a system that has a fun chance element to it.

GvP: Interesting dilemmas. Alright, my final question is one we alluded to before –

MR: What’s my favourite game? [laughs]

GvP: Yes!

MR: Oh, man.

GvP: What are your favourite games, perhaps?

MR: So … oh man. I think Oh Hell has got to be up there as a favourite. Oh Hell is a game you can play anywhere and with anyone. But you know, it really is about whom I’m playing with. Our younger daughter loves Ticket to Ride and she loves Codenames. So if I play a game with her, I’m going to love Ticket to Ride and Codenames too, because I get to play with her. I love Rhino Hero, I think Rhino Hero is a magnificent game. In the same ilk I love Hula Hippos, and I have a copy of Trötofant, which pisses off all of my friends if I play it at a convention because it’s the game where you’re elephants and you’re picking things up with a party whistle that unrolls, and that’s your elephant trumpet. Puerto Rico. I mean, Puerto Rico is absolutely a foundational game for me. I just think it’s magnificent. When we go to the beach we always take Puerto Rico. Agricola, I love Agricola. I’m thinking of my bookshelves now … there’s a wonderful kids’ game called Water Lily, which is essentially an abstract game but it’s just fantastic. Make ‘n’ Break is one of the few games that I’ve rated a 10, because I think Make ‘n’ Break is the epitome of what a dexterity game should be. The other game that I rated a 10 would be Princes of Florence, which I think is close to the perfect game. It’s got that limited duration, it’s got that tension, so that by the third or fourth round you’re going, “Well, this is everything that I need to do between now and the end of the game. If I can!” That’s a long list, I’m sorry!

GvP: No, no, that’s awesome. Actually I just thought of one more question to ask you. How many games are there in your library?

MR: Over a thousand. I think it’s about 1200 including expansions. We haven’t really kept our list up to date. We need to get rid of some, because we’ve literally run out of space. But for me, 1100-1200 is going to be the sweet spot where we’ll probably keep our library. And there are plenty of games in there, like Royal Palace, that we will always own but not necessarily play. Fraser talks about our boardgames as an investment in our retirement. When we retire we will always have something to do that won’t require anything other than a table and light.

Games vs Play would like to acknowledge Boardgames Australia as the owner of mages appearing in this post.

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]]>http://gamesvsplay.com/people-profile-9-melissa-rogerson-co-chair-boardgames-australia-and-phd-candidate/feed/0People Profile #8: Felicity Banks, interactive fiction authorhttp://gamesvsplay.com/people-profile-8-felicity-banks-interactive-fiction-author/
http://gamesvsplay.com/people-profile-8-felicity-banks-interactive-fiction-author/#commentsWed, 14 Dec 2016 22:50:15 +0000http://gamesvsplay.com/?p=1250Hi Felicity, thanks for being on Games vs Play. Congratulations on your debut novel, Heart of Brass, which forms the first book in your alternative history series The Antipodean Queen. It’s a real metal-bodice ripping yarn (that reference will make sense to people who have read the book), and I’m looking forward to the second book coming out!

Felicity Banks: I discovered interactive fiction in a big way just last year (although of course I’d enjoyed the Choose Your Own Adventure paper novels back in the day). The Windhammer Prize is a really excellent Australian-run contest, so I wrote After the Flag Fell specifically for it.

GvP: After the Flag Fell shares the same universe as Heart of Brass, an alternative 19th century where steampunk technology and a metallurgical magic reign supreme. Can you tell us about this setting, and where the inspiration for it came from?

FB: I was toying with the idea of writing steampunk set in Australia, but was daunted by the idea of researching real-life history. When one of my friends said the phrase “steampunk in the land of drought” something clicked in my mind and I knew it was too cool not to write. Later on I realised I loved magic too much to leave it out, and spent time thinking about a magic system that truly fit into the steampunk aesthetic.

GvP: So you have three completely different stories all set in the same magical steampunk universe? Which one comes first?

FB: Actually there are five stories so far, and I’ve amused myself by writing every single one in a completely different format. Chronologically, the interactive subscription story Choices: And Their Souls Were Eaten is first (1836-7 Europe), followed by the novel Heart of Brass (1854 Australia). Either can be read first, or independently. After that, the interactive story After the Flag Fell begins in 1854 Australia (and is included in both print and digital formats of the novel), followed by the interactive Twine story Stuff and Nonsense(which also exists as a scripted live-action role-playing game) set in 1860 Australia, then the interactive novel Attack of the Clockwork Armya few years after that. Those three can all stand alone, but they contain minor spoilers if you read them out of order. All of my interactive fiction is listed here, with links, at the Interactive Fiction Database.

GvP: How different is it writing an interactive novel compared to a traditional novel?

FB: It depends on the kind of interactive fiction. I’m definitely on the most book-ish end, in which stories all head towards the same climax, but with different experiences, relationships, personality traits, and skills for the main character. I do get tangled up in the different storylines constantly, but most game-making engines have ways to keep track of plot items and relationships and so on. That helps a lot. Interactive novels also require more editors because they’ll all experience a different story.

GvP: So, how exactly did you start your career in writing?

FB: I was never not a writer. I attempted a novel at seven years of age, and ultimately wrote more than a dozen novels before the first was published! I’ve tried to stop many times, but it’s an addiction.

GvP: The heyday of interactive novels – known to fans as “gamebooks” – was back in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Not so many gamebooks are published nowadays. Why do you think this is the case?

FB: My own theory is that gamebooks were SO popular (due to excellent writing) that they spawned a lot of low-quality imitations that gave the entire genre a bad name [we came to a similar conclusion here at Games vs Play, as argued in our article “A Brief History of Gamebooks“]. The up side of interactive fiction’s fall is that it’s now on the rise in a big way, and in a new format: phone apps. Although my novel has higher prestige value (especially with non-gaming relatives) than my interactive fiction, my interactive fiction pays considerably more for the simple reason that more people are reading it. I’m stunned and delighted and how many readers I have.

GvP: You also write interactive adventures for mobile platforms with Tin Man Games. How did this come about?

FB: This is a classic story of being in the right place at the right time. . . after about a decade and a half of trying to put myself in as many “right places”, professionally speaking, as possible. In 2015 I cold-emailed a handful of gaming companies that I liked, including Tin Man Games, asking for writing and/or editing work. Those that replied were polite but very booked up. One of them actually had a position available, and I begged them so hard they eventually told me (politely but firmly) to stop emailing. (Don’t do that…) I said in my email to TMG that I’d enter the Windhammer Prize, which I then won. That meant TMG had the publication rights, so after some weeks passed without contact I emailed them to query what was happening. They said that they didn’t intend to digitally publish the Windhammer games at the moment, and I shrugged and went back to working on my other stories, perfectly content with my $300 prize money. A few hours later I received a phone call. Neil (aka the Tin Man) and KG had just had a meeting and decided they needed to hire another writer for Choices: And The Sun Went Out. We chatted for a while, skyped the next day, and then I was plunged into a story that was already 100,000 words strong with several intersecting strands and an engine I’d never used before. Many panic attacks later, the story is over 500,000 words and is scheduled to reach its conclusion just before Christmas. In the meantime, Choices: And The Sun Went Out won a Film Victoria grant and I pitched an outline for Choices: And Their Souls Were Eaten (a prequel of sorts to Heart of Brass but set in Europe so there are no spoilers in either direction). I’m still writing that.

GvP: Can you tell us a bit about some of the stories you’ve written with Tin Man Games?

FB: Choices: And The Sun Went Out is the name of both the first story and the entire app. The app has two unique qualities: First, it’s a subscription story, with new content each week for up to sixty weeks. Second, each story has one or more characters who travel with the protagonist, and a player with an iwatch can choose to have those characters speak to them through their iwatch if they wish. Choices: And The Sun Went Out is a near-future science fiction story about the sun going out. . . then coming back, and then going out again. The protagonist and their AI companion, Moti, need to figure out why the sun is going out and how to fix it. At the same time, top scientists around the world are being murdered, cults are springing up, and it’s not looking good for Planet Earth. Choices: And Their Souls Were Eaten is fantastical steampunk set in 1836-7 Europe. Queen Victoria is a teenage princess; magical metals have recently been discovered; and the king has said that those born with soul-eating talent must administer magical last rites to the dead. But there is a new plague sweeping across all of Europe, and the protagonist’s unique powers are essential in saving the world of the living from the world of the dead.

GvP: What projects will you be working on next?

FB: I love working for Tin Man Games, and I’ll definitely continue working with them. I also need to write the next novel in the Antipodean Queen series. And I have at least one secret project in the works, too.

GvP: And finally, what advice would you give to aspiring writers?

FB: Mostly. . . don’t! I’m a hypocrite, I know. But new writers need to be aware that even successful writers earn very little, and it’s rarely reliable from week to week, let alone from year to year. My parents always encouraged me to write while also doing paid work. I’m very grateful for that. Even writers need to eat.

Choices: And The Sun Went Out (including Choices: And Their Souls Were Eaten) is available on Android and itunes.Heart of Brass is available here as well as Amazon, various Australian bookstores (if they’re out of stock they can order it in for you), and on all the usual online retailers. The publisher will post copies anywhere in the world. You can also read Felicity’s blog here.

Games vs Play would like to thank Felicity Banks for permission to use images appearing in this post. To find out more about the latest reviews, stories and other cool things in the world of games, like us on Facebook. And remember – if you’re game, we’ll play!